Project management - end your project as strong as you started it!

1. PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
~
CLOSING &
REFLECTING
Suzanne Chapman
Head, User Experience Department
suzchap@umich.edu

2. SCOPE PLAN EXECUTE MONITOR CLOSE &
REFLECT
Closing and reflecting is JUST as important as
the other phases...but is possibly the most
neglected.
(stopping work on a project doesn’t count!)
But it’s hard!
1. We’re busy and the next project has probably already
started.
2. It’s uncomfortable to critique our own work.

3. * A Note About Failure
this isn’t failure
FAILURE SUCCESS

4. * A Note About Failure
it’s just in need of further excellence
FAILURE SUCCESS

5. * Art School Crit
Sometimes painful, always worth the pain.

6. * Why Closing & Reflecting is Super Important
1. It makes you smarter and more well-equipped for the
next project.
2. Deliberate act of closing forces you to be reflective!
3. Helps you think more strategically. Was this worth
doing? Would we do this again?
4. Gives project manager and the team the opportunity
to debrief and share their opinions.
5. Closure! Projects should have end dates! Helps put a
final stamp and end to your efforts (so you can make
a clean break & move on with your life).

7. * Steps
1. Agreement from team & management that it’s time
to end the project
2. Organize & update project documents
○ document project goals, process, outcomes
3. Conduct end of project review
○ debrief conversations
○ document successes & lessons learned
4. Report/present/communicate results

8. * Strategies for Reflecting
One size
does not fit
all!

9. (you established goals at the beginning, right?)
Goal Results
expand focus to include more
research-related activities and
minimize communication
Focus expanded but room for more expansion
in next iteration (Research Guides,
Instructional Services could be more
prominent)
better visual balance Much improved within constraints of outer
framework
establish new procedures &
best practices for management
of home page content
Yes, fully achieved, documented on intranet
and well communicated. Initial period post-launch
had a few hiccups but these were
resolved.
ensure new changes are
compliant with web accessibility
standards
Yes, thanks to Colin!
* Goal Alignment

10. Critique of original Critique of new
Space dedicated to
communications content is
disproportionate to core
content and features
(comm = 95%, core = 5%)
Improved balance (comm = 66%,
core = 33%)
next iteration should balance
further.
Visual design is awkward,
poor visual hierarchy, lacks
typographic finesse
Much improved but structure &
project scope limited ability to fully
remedy this issue.
Path to find databases isn’t
clear
Added frequently used databases
to get users to these faster. Larger
problem of guiding users to the rest
of the databases remains.
* Critique & Results

11. * After Action Review (AAR)
Nice as a group activity, management run, self evaluation.
1. What was supposed to happen?
2. What did happen?
3. What worked?
4. What didn’t? Why?
5. What would you do differently next time?

12. * Detailed PM Assessment
Level -no issues
-some issues
-major issues
Upper-level management was supportive &
responsive when needed
Had the time we needed
Had the skills needed
Had the resources needed ($, technology)
Project was well-managed and tasks tracked
Project plan had clear mission, useful goals, timeline
Team members pulled their weight
See full project management - closing & reflecting - self evaluation

13. * I <3 Formal Reporting
Forces you to:
● take the extra time to analyze
● reflect on “lessons learned”
● document the important details (especially useful if
there will be a phase 2)
● write clearly, be thorough in the details (especially if you
write for an external audience)
If you did documentation as you go, it should be pretty
easy. “Report” could be as simple as having a detailed
project brief (see sample and Project Stopgap summary).

14. QUESTIONS?